Ligeti : Etudes pour piano, livres 1-3. Hell.

Piano International (Mar, 2013)
The fecund imagination of Gyorgy Ligeti (1923-2006) can be heard to stunning effect in these 18 Etudes, written between 1985 and 2001. The third book, containing four pieces, is unfinished, the composer too ill to add to them by this point. Following in the line of Chopin and Debussy, Ligeti’s invention is a feast for the adventurous mind. Whether polyrhythmic or simply elegant, each piece transports the listener to a different world, although the same compositional rigour is always apparent. The rich variety in this music is apparent from the very first two Etudes – the vivid, rather Bartokian ‘Desordre’ contrasting with the hauntingly beautiful ‘Cordes a vide’, which is dedicated …